Blackwater Mercs Staying in Iraq; Will Hillary Keep 'Em Elsewhere?

Spencer Ackerman called it "an idea so diabolically perfect in its simplicity only Noah Shachtman at Danger Room was able to report it."

Turns out the *New York Times *did, too -- just a little later than yours truly. It looks like Blackwater's mercenaries will be able to stick around Iraq... even though the Baghdad government is giving the company the boot.

Security industry officials said the Iraqi government had made it clear that it would allow former Blackwater employees to work for either
[security firms] Dyncorp or Triple Canopy, as long as they were not personally involved in any controversies while at Blackwater.

Now, here's the next question: Will the State Department keep using Blackwater's services in other countries, besides Iraq? Federal regulations allow contracts to be suspended or cut off for any "offense indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty that seriously and directly affects the present responsibility of a Government contractor or subcontractor."

Blackwater's guns-for-hire have committed any number of misdeeds that might qualify under that vaguer-than-vague definition. Plus, Blackwater chief Erik Prince is a well-known Republican donor. And Hillary Clinton did promise to ban private military contractors, during the campaign. Doing away with the firms altogether probably isn't realistic. Maybe a Blackwater ban would be seen as an appropriate compromise. We'll see.

[Photo: Babylon & Beyond]